President George W. Bush said yesterday he was troubled by a US intelligence report's finding that Al-Qaeda had become entrenched in a safe haven in Pakistan's tribal region near Afghanistan.

But Bush offered support for embattled Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, saying he believes Musharraf was committed to fighting Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

A portion of the National Intelligence Estimate made public this week found a "persistent and evolving" threat to the United States from Islamic militant groups, especially Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda.

In his taped weekly radio address, Bush said the report's assessment that Al-Qaeda was gaining strength in the tribal region of Pakistan was "one of the most troubling."

The White House has acknowledged that a truce, which Musharraf reached last September with the tribal leaders, had not worked and Bush said the leaders proved unwilling or unable to police the area themselves.

Pakistani forces are in the fight against militants and the United States supports them, Bush said, adding, "We will work with our partners to deny safe haven to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Pakistan - or anywhere else in the world."

Bush was spending the weekend at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, and had five polyps removed during a routine colon cancer test. The White House said his doctors described them as small and apparently not worrisome.

Details of the exam were expected next week. Musharraf faces a political crisis at home amid waves of violence that erupted after government forces stormed an Islamabad mosque earlier this month to end a siege by militants.

Further weakening Musharraf's power, Pakistan's Supreme Court this week reinstated the country's chief justice whose ouster the president had sought. Pro-democracy activists had widely criticised him for suspending the top judge in March.

The North Waziristan area near the Afghan border is believed to be a hotbed of Al-Qaeda and Taliban activity and US officials say bin Laden and other top Al-Qaeda leaders are hiding there.

The United States has been pressing the Pakistan government to do more to curb Al-Qaeda activities in the border area and has not ruled out US strikes. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry says only its own troops can carry out counter-terrorism actions on its soil.